Before we left my sister-in-law, Sarah, came down to BG with my brother for the day to hang out and snap some very important two year pictures of Mikayla. She did such an amazing job! I want to post all of the pictures, but thought some of you might like to just see the highlights. If you want to see the whole album, you can view it here.
Mikayla as an infant
Mikayla at a year
Mikayla at two years
Mikayla last year on her birthday and then this year (very excited with crazy bed head!).
I had planned to write a lengthy post of all the accomplishments Mikayla has made in the last year, but to be honest I am too tired tonight. Maybe another night. For tonight I just want to wish the sweetest two year old a very happy birthday! We had a great day of donuts, bubble baths, visitors, a park date, Chick-fil-a and of course rounded out the day with a little Stakz frozen yogurt! Mikayla even woke up to a birthday decorated doorway.
Posing in front of her birthday sign before our donut date!
Just hanging around the park like two year olds do!
Happy birthday sweet baby! I am sad you are growing up so fast, but can’t wait to see what the next year holds for you.
Mikayla had a couple of firsts this week. She got her first official haircut by the amazing Ali Townsend at Bella Me on the square in BG. She did awesome! She sat so still and let Ali cut and play with her hair. I didn’t get very many shots, but here are a few to capture the moment.
She also slept in a big girl bed for the first time (minus those few moments we bring her to bed with us). She took it like a champ in typical Mikayla fashion. After a few bumps and delays she laid down and went right to sleep. Since we started this on Tuesday night, she has yet to climb out of bed even at naptime! Knock on wood! She doesn’t put up any more of a fight than she did when we put her down in the crib. She is however, much more cautious since the first night when she bumped her head a few times. She will even say as she is climbing in the bed, "Be careful"! Too cute. I am so proud of my big girl. Check out the video below to see her first reaction to the big girl bed. I apologize for her not being clothed, she had just gotten out of the shower!
For Mikayla’s 2nd birthday we opted to take a non-traditional route. Since we will be moving in July and can’t take very much with us we decided to give her a trip somewhere instead of a birthday gift to unwrap (thanks Lara for the idea). My spring break is this week so we had the perfect opportunity. On Monday, we packed the car and headed to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the evening.
Our first stop was the zoo. It wasn’t a very big zoo, but we had a blast anyway. Mikayla loved looking at the monkeys (really chimps, but she doesn’t know any better). At one point one of them was walking right by our viewing window and got either excited or scared. It let out a screech sound banged the window a few times while showing its teeth and then ran off. Mikayla was a little taken back until she realized the monkey was just saying hi! When it happened she actually threw her hands up and said "Whoa"! It was priceless.
Loving on the chimp!
Pretty jaguar pacing in front of the window.
This was just before the peacock got spooked and hit Mikayla in the head with its tail feathers!
Family portrait
The guy at the carousel was so nice, he let Mikayla ride an extra time for free!
A little playground action after our zoo trip.
What Kickert vacation would be complete without a few ice cream stops along the way?
And of course we had to go swimming so, as Mikayla called it, "put my head under water"! Doesn’t she look so grown up in this swim suit?
On Tuesday morning we got up and headed to the Creative Discovery Museum. We have taken Mikayla to several children’s museums, but this one was a hit for sure. It catered very well to toddler aged children where others are geared towards older kids. Mikayla loved the water station the best and kept asking to go back.
Water Station – her favorite station of the day!
She has become quite the "hoarder", hopefully we don’t see her on one of the hoarding reality TV shows in the future!
Camping out!
Hanging around in a kayak.
They had the coolest music exhibit with different instruments and recording devices throughout. It even had a recording studio!
Face painting…a beard just like daddy!
Trying to figure out the dinosaur dig…she wasn’t quite sure about the sand.
Being eaten by a T-Rex!
Hanging out at the top of the arch!
The kitchen area was her second favorite exhibit!
All tuckered out after some birthday fun! Happy second birthday sweet baby!
When Mikayla was about four months old, Ben thought it would be funny to put her in a large soup pot. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of her from early on.
The other day, he decided to try out the soup pot again. I think she is getting a little too big now!
A Christmas tradition that I wanted to start with our family was getting in our pajamas on Christmas night, making some hot chocolate, setting up the camera on a tripod and snapping away! Here is our family last year:
And then here we were this year:
Have we changed?
Back in October I wrote a post about Mikayla going "poo poo" in the potty for the first time and getting an ice cream cone all of her own. From that point on we never really tried to potty train Mikayla, but at the same time we never discouraged it either. If she wanted to sit on the potty we let her. If we noticed she was looking like she needed to go, we ran to the bathroom. We hadn’t even purchased big girl underwear yet.
Well, last weekend (right before our whirlwind of Christmas traveling began), Mikayla decided she wanted to be potty trained. On Saturday and Sunday she didn’t have an accident in her diaper except when she was sleeping. We were so proud of her, but didn’t think much of it because we assumed when traveling she would have more accidents. She proved us wrong in a big way! Over the course of the next 7-8 she only had a couple of accidents, even on the road. When we finally returned from our traveling we tried her big girl underwear that were in her stocking. She loved her "panties" and even got a little upset when we put a diaper on her at nap and night time. For three days now (cross our fingers and knock on wood) she hasn’t had an accident in her big girl underwear! What a big girl she is! We are still using diapers at nap and night time, but the rest of the day she is is underwear.
This potty training thing is nothing we did, she just woke up one morning and decided she didn’t want to go to the bathroom on herself anymore. Like I said, accidental potty training!
I bet you can’t guess who is lurking in the cabinet?
Any guesses yet? Here is a clue: She is the cutest blue eye, blond headed 18.5 month old…
Peek A Boo! I see you!
As Mikayla would say, "Mor" or in English "more"!
This child is starting to get a bit of a pot belly!
This has become one of Mikayla’s new favorite games. Along with snack, candy, chips and of course reading her books. Can you tell daddy stays at home with her? Just kidding, I am pretty sure I indulge in her requests as much as (if not more than) Ben! Here are some more cute snapshots of Mikayla.
She is turning into quite the "shaggy" girl!
On a non-Mikayla related note, I made these fantastic Fiesta Beef and Black Bean Enchiladas the other night. They were easy and surprisingly tasty. The only thing I altered was to add some bell peppers (red, yellow and green…all leftovers from a previous meal) and onions. As well as a dash or two of cumin, oregano, and black pepper. If I were to make them over again I think I would use the Queso Blanco from Nice and Cheesy (off brand of Velveeta found at Kroger) instead of traditional Velveeta. The cilantro on top is a must, as it adds a little extra kick to the dish. We served with chips and Mexican rice. It also warmed up pretty good too! This is a definite keeper in our recipe box!
Have 18 months really passed since Mikayla was born?
She wasn’t very happy here, just moments after her arrival!
Much happier here. Side note – she is sporting a hat made by the one and only Brittany. You can purchase one too for $10!
It is crazy how time flies! Dr. F said Mikayla looked great at her check up on Tuesday. At 18 months she was 32 inches long, weighed in at 22 lbs and her head was a whopping 47 cm. She has grown 3.5 inches since her one year appointment…the nurse was super impressed with this growth. I mean I knew she had grown, but wow! She is still below average in weight and head circumference, but is above the red average line in height. She is also talking more, not sentences yet, but she is putting "I" in front of a lot of statements. For example "I poo poo", "I eat", etc. She is also signing more and communicating with us when she has gone to the bathroom. She doesn’t usually tell us beforehand that she needs to go, but almost always tells us after the fact. I believe we are on our way to potty training this little baby! She still only eats one good meal a day, but apparently that isn’t stopping her from growing!
She took her two shots like a champ at her 18 month checkup! As a reward we went to the park for a little fun, including Ben attempting to fly his homemade kite!
Mikayla loves her tub! I am already making plans for a winter themed tub. Any suggestions?
Daddy’s kite!
Her concentration face!
Making mommy a snack!
Sliding with daddy is so much fun!
A somewhat successful self portrait.
Mikayla, what did you do when you were 18 months old? Oh I just hung around!
